Tamed Love
by Detonare
Summary: Malik has dedicated his life to the dragons. He has always been a loner, and he prefer doing things on his own. But with his apprentice around, things might become harder to manage. Fanfiction Contest Round 3 - Manipulashipping


**A/N: **Okay, so this is my third entry for the contest. I just got this idea and I decided to go for it. It's too late to change now anyway. I actually like this story. Maybe it's not my best, but I still can't help but love it.  
I have screwed around with their ages a bit to make it fit. You know I love master/apprentice-relationships! I can't help it!!

**YuGiOh Fanfiction Contest - Round 3  
Pairing: **Manipulashipping - Malik I / Anzu M

* * *

**Tamed Love**

"On behalf of our city," a young mother said, keeping both her kids in a safe distance from the animal and its current keeper, "thank you."

Malik didn't respond in words. Instead, he nodded silently. The black haired mother of the two children smiled nervously and quickly closed the door shut with a loud crack.

"It's almost like she wanted us to go," Malik said, looking at the large animal sitting beside him. "She didn't even offer us some tea."

Anzu smiled by the sarcastic statement. She didn't feel like tea, anyway. Maybe it was the glow of the yellow dragon, maybe it was the sun shining down upon him.. Maybe it was just her mind, but suddenly she looked at her master in a whole different way. His blond hair was almost shining, his purple eyes almost divine.

"Anzu?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

The sound of his call woke her up from her daze, and she realized that she had been staring at him for a full minute. She shook her head to make the rising blush go away before he could notice anything. Her voice sounded a bit shaky as she spoke: "Sorry, I was just.. in a whole other world."

He lowered his eyebrow again and turned his head to look at the yellow beauty beside him. A smile grew onto his face.

"He really is beautiful, isn't he?" Malik said and patted the dragon on its cheek. The yellow beauty was lying on the grass, its eyes closed. It didn't react to the touch. "These creatures can make you forget about everything. They truly are amazing."

"You truly are amazing, Love" she said without thinking further about her choice of words. Her eyes were locked with his.

She bit herself in the lip, her blue eyes growing bigger. His gaze had her pinned up against an invisible wall. If she lowered her eyes, she knew that there was no turning back. Malik was once again forced to raise his one eyebrow with a questioning look on his face. "Excuse me?"

"The dragon. I will call him Love. He doesn't have a name?"

Anzu was internally smacking herself for being so stupid. She had never been out on a job with her master, this was her first time. In the six months of them working together, Anzu had stayed home and looked at the many dragons they had in the different enclosures, while Malik had worked to get them chained up. She had never been so close to a dragon before, and this morning, Malik had asked her to join him on his mission. To help the poor citizens with getting rid of a pest. A dragon, that is.

Many cities in this area wassuffering from the presence of the dragons, and Malik had decided to spend his life capturing them. It was truly a dangerous job, but as a High Tamer, he had his tools and his experience to rely on.

"No, I don't think he has a name," Malik wondered. "Don't you think 'Love' is a little too.. sweet?"

She lovered her eyes and smiled.

"Maybe. What would you propose?"

His hands closed tighter around the chain. In one swift movement, he threw it towards Anzu. She was standing in front of him, maybe ten metres from him and the dragon. She wasn't prepared for the throw, wasn't prepared for catching it. As a reflex, she shielded her face with her arms and hands. She felt the thin chain close around her waist.  
She didn't catch it.

When she opened her eyes, Malik had walked closer to her. Their noses almost touched.

"I would rather name him Xeno or Nemesis," he said, looking into her blue eyes. After a while, he added: "I thought you would catch that."

"Well, I wasn't ready!" she said and bend over to grab the grey chain.

"You were ready."

If there was something, that Anzu wasn't, it was ready. How would she know that he would just throw a chain at her? He didn't give any warning whatsoever, and she was only expecting an answer, not a bombardment of metal coming her way.

When Malik saw her perplex expression, he said: "Rule number one: Always be ready."

With that said he turned around, his purple cloak flowing silently behind him. "This is a test, Anzu. If you fail..."

"Wait! How will I-.." she yelled, but Malik was too far away for him to hear her. Now she was standing alone. Or almost alone. Ten metres away from her, a fifteen meter tall dragon was lying, seemingly asleep.

"Great," she muttered and started walking. She soon realized, that the dragon wasn't about to move. No matter how hard she pulled, it didn't even move the slightest. It looked almost peaceful in its rest. Her brown and green outfit became even more brown with dirt as she pulled. Her feet were slipping in the fresh mud, her arms tired. Nothing she did would ever get the dragon up and moving.

Why did Malik even trust her with a dragon of that size? It wasn't even full-grown yet!

* * *

At the top of the hill, Malik had sat down. His eyes were focused on the small brown haired girl, trying her best to succeed. His lips formed a small smile as he looked at her obvious struggle. Did he want to help?

"You're on your own.. Anzu," he whispered to himself as he threw himself down on the slightly moist grass. "You should be able to figure it out by yourself."

As he was lying on his back, his eyes focused on the sky above him. The sun was still high on the sky, but not for long. The walk from his place to the destination was a long one, and it was necessary to be home again before the darkness took over. It was a necessity!

***

Anzu had looked for Malik in the horizon, and as if she couldn't get more frustrated, he was enjoying himself at the top of the hill while she was fighting an endless battle right below him! What was he thinking, giving her the responsibility of taking care of a dragon by herself?

"There must be a way," she groaned. "Maybe if.."

_When they had arrived at the scene, Malik had immediately felt the presence of the large animal. Despite him knowing the dragons whereabouts, the scared woman invited the two of them inside. This yellow dragon had been resting at the bottom of a nearby mountain. A small mountain. It was actually barely able to be classified as a mountain. _

_"It has been terrorizing us the last two months," the young lady said while her children was out of hearing range upstairs. "We hoped that it would disappear, but it hasn't."_

_The three of them were sitting around a table in the woman's kitchen. Anzu was sitting beside Malik who was nodding silently. Anzu kept quiet; she wouldn't disturb any of them._

_"Has he done anything to "terrorize you"?" Malik asked with a certain doubt in his voice._

_The woman seemed to think about her answer.  
"The dragon hasn't.. it's just.. we don't want any danger near our children. You of all people can be able to relate to that?"_

_"Absolutely. Of course I understand you, and we will take care of it as soon as possible," Malik said, his index finger touching his bottom lip. "But why me in particular?"_

_"I just assumed that as a High Tamer you would have a wife and a family."_

_She sounded shocked. Her cheeks started to redden. "I'm sorry, I just assumed.."_

_"I am only twenty," Malik stated, looking the woman into her green eyes. "I have no __kids. I have no wife."_

_Silence filled the room. Beside Malik, Anzu started to move her hands nervously. The mother of two glanced at Anzu, sitting to his left. Malik was still looking at the woman and he saw exactly she was doing._

_"She's not-..?" the black haired woman asked and took a better look at Anzu. Her brown hair was covering her elegant face as she looked down her lap._

_"She's not," he stated. When the woman had turned to wash the dishes, Malik turned his eyes towards Anzu. She was staring at him, no expression in her face. He decided to wink at her, a small smile on his face. He really enjoyed watching her blush._

* * *

She stopped trying to pull the quite heavy and uncooperative dragon. She could just as well save some energy for the journey home.

"Okay, lets start from scratch.." she whispered to herself, looking at Malik dazing above her. "This dragon is definitely a dragon of the element: Light."

When her master needed to catch a dragon, he always used the Trick of Opposites. By using powder of pure darkness he could weaken the beast enough for him to prison it in chains. Or at least that's what he had told her. Why hadn't she seen what he had done just half an hour before? He had called it to him from the mountain and.. the rest was a blur. She must have been out of her mind!

Even though Anzu was only 17 years old and only an apprentice, her logic was undeniable. If darkness would weaken it, light was the solution to all of her problems!

Around her waist, six small bags were dangling from a leather belt. These bags contained the six elements she had learned about. There were more elements. She has barely scratched the surface.

Her hands trailed across the different bags. There were no number on them, and she needed to remember where the correct placement was. It may sound as a piece of cake, but Anzu always had problems remembering things. Therefore she had practiced extra hard during Malik's practical lessons.

"Fire,"she whispered to herself calmly. She has seen the sky above her. It didn't exactly make her feel any better to know that she know had a deadline. If it became dark.. everything could happen.

"Ice, wind, earth, light.."

Her hands closed around a little leather bag on her left side. When she opened it, a bright light shone up at her.

"Bingo!" she exclaimed. Malik, who had almost fallen asleep, woke up from his daze in a heartbeat. His eyes trailed across the landscape below him, noticing the bag Anzu was holding. A smile crept on to his face.

"Bingo indeed," he whispered and brought his hands together in a sarcastic applause.

Now that she had the solution, the rest was easy for her. She took a nice hand full of the bright powder and threw it directly into the sleeping dragon's face. Malik's eyes widened as both the dragon's eyes popped open.

"Are you crazy?!" he exclaimed, got up and jumped down the hill. Anzu's eyes went big with fear when she saw the large eye staring at her. The dragon got up on its hind legs, giving out a lour roar. It was mad. Clearly, it was mad.

"Maybe that was..," Anzu spoke silently. "Too much powder."

The dragon lowered its head, looking directly into Anzu's crystal blue eyes.

In a matter of seconds, Malik was standing by her side, pointing his staff towards the large beast. His eyes were closed as if he was in deep concentration. The yellow dragon opened its large jaws, revealing a massive collection of sharp teeth. Anzu was speechless; she couldn't scream, she couldn't run.

Malik's lips were moving, but no sounds was heard. The wooden staff was still pointing towards the enemy, towering above the two of them. Another loud shriek emitted into the air, sending chills down Anzu's spine. She was standing behind Malik, hoping to use him as a human shield for her to survive. Oh how egocentric she had become..

It made its move. The jaws were open, ready to slice the two of them to bits. Just as the dragon's head was mere inches in front of the end of the staff, it froze. The red eyes were moving back and forth, confused. Frightened. It was unable to move, unable to make an attack. Completely and utter exposed.

Malik's eyelids opened, revealing a set of determined eyes. He turned to look at Anzu. Her eyes were glistening, wet with tears. A small tear trailed down her left cheek, and her lips were slightly parted.

"What were you thinking?" he asked, sounding more harsh than he meant to.

"I didn't! I am so sorry," she apologised rapidly.

His facial features softened up a little.

"Don't be sorry."

Anzu stifled a cough. "What about the test?" she cried, looking at the angry dragon. It couldn't move, but its eyes swore revenge on her as well as on Malik. The Tamer that brought it to its knees.

"You fail," he said and kissed away the tear.


End file.
